Rail or truss stairway

ABSTRACT

A truss or rail stairway is provided wherein the handrails support the weight of the stairway treads. The supports for the treads are in the form of triangular members so that a very rigid structure is provided, yet one which is light in weight.

United States Patent [191 Pelto Sept. 10, 1974 RAIL OR TRUSS STAIRWAY [76] Inventor: Clarence H. Pelto, 80 Duboce Ave.,

San Francisco, Calif. 94103 [22] Filed: July 11, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 378,157

[52] US. Cl. 182/106, 182/ 194 [51] Int. Cl E04f 11/12 [58] Field of Search 182/194, 106; 52/182, 184,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,295,056 9/1942 Schenk 256/22 3,021,928 2/1962 Blair 52/191 3,422,924 l/l969 Bennett 182/194 3,556,251 l/l97l Whitehead 182/194 3,757,894 9/1973 Chamberlin 182/ 115 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 233,229 4/1964 Austria 52/182 Primary Examiner-Reinaldo P. Machado Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert G. Slick [57] ABSTRACT A truss or rail stairway is provided wherein the handrails support the weight of the stairway treads. The supports for the treads are in the form of triangular members so that a very rigid structure is provided, yet one which is light in weight.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures RAIL R TRUSS STAIRWAY SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Many stairway structures have been proposed in the past but generally speaking such structures have required relatively heavy stringer members. The stairway must be of very heavy construction to sustain any substantial load. Further, such stairways do not lend themselves to a modern look in many installations.

In accordance with the present invention a truss or rail stairway is provided wherein the hand rails provide substantially the entire support for the stairway and the treads are supported by tension members extending downward from the handrail. Since these members are in tension they can be relatively small and light in weight yet provide the necessary strength. Further, the tension members consist of two series, one of which extends directly downwardly from the handrail to two treads while another member extends at an angle from the rear of one tread to a point above the rear of the next lower tread to a point directly above the front of that tread. The uprights are fastened together by a stringer member so that a strong truss structure is provided. Such stairways are light in weight and do not tend to sway or give when weight is applied to them.

Preferably the handrails are made of tubular members and the various parts are fastened together by welding.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the stairway lends itself to prefabrication in the factory and installation on a construction site. Also, since the treads can be bolted on after the stairway has been put in place, the side members as well as the treads can be packaged in a relatively small package for shipment to a construction site.

These are numerous other advantages of the structure of the present invention which will be brought out in detail in the specification which follows:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of a stairway embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial exploded view of the stairway showing the method of construction.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The stairway of the present invention is essentially hung from the handrails. The handrails generally designated 5 and 7 are provided on each side of the stairway in the usual manner and the ends may be turned down to a vertical position as at 9 and l l to provide end members. The handrails can be made of either tubular or bar stock. Treads 11 are provided which are held on brackets 13 for support. The treads 11 can be made of any suitable material such as wood, concrete or steel and are preferably made of wood and can be bolted by means of bolts 15 to the support brackets 13. If the treads are made of iron or steel they can, of course, be welded directly to the support frame obviating the need of the bracket members 13. An intermediate stringer member 17 is provided and this can be made of relatively light stock since it does not support any substantial amount of weight and is used primarily for bracing purposes.

The treads are supported by the handrails by means of vertical members 19 which extend from the handrail horizontally to the front of one step as at 21 and to the rear of the next lower step as at 23. Angular support members 25 are also provided and these extend from the rear of one tread as at 27 to a position directly above the front of the next lower tread as at 29. Thus, it will be seen that each angling member intersects the next lower horizontal member and the stringer at a point directly over the front of the tread to which it is attached and the rear of the next lower tread. The point of intersection is fastened together, preferably by welding, and the welds can be covered by an ornamental member 31.

Although the uprights can be constructed of single pieces of bar stock extending from the tread to the handrail, preferably the uprights are constructed from members which are bent to an acute angle and which extend only as far as the intennediate stringer 17. This method of construction is best seen in FIG. 3. Here a v-shaped member 33 has a horizontal portion 35 and an angle portion 37. A mating inverted v-shaped member 39 has a front angle portion 41 and a rear portion 43. The apex of member 33 is fastened to the handrail while its bottom ends are fastened to the stringer 17. The apex of the lower angle member 39 is attached to the rear tread member and the ends are again attached to the stringer 17. Thus, when the stair is assembled, member 37 appears to be a continuation of the member 41 while the member 35 appears to be a continuation of the member 43.

Preferably all of the parts are fastened together by welding. Thus, the apex of each of the upper triangles is welded to the handrail at 45 while the apex of each of the lower triangles is welded to the rear of a tread support as at 47. The horizontal uprights are also welded to the tread support at 49. Additionally, the members are welded together at the point where they intersect the intermediate stringer member 17. Of course, bolting, riveting or other fastening means can be employed to hold the parts together.

The stairway thus constructed is very light in weight and substantially all of the weight is supported on the handrails. Because of the angling support members under the handrails, a rigid truss structure is provided so that the parts can be relatively light in weight.

Many variations can be made in the exact structure shown without departing from the spirit of this invention.

I claim:

1. A truss stairway comprising in combination:

a. a pair of horizontally spaced handrails of sufficient strength to support a stairway,

b. a plurality of tread holding tension members supported by said handrails,

c. a pair of stringer members spaced between said handrails and said treads,

d. said tension memberscomprising a first set of uprights extending vertically on each side of the stairway from the rear of each tread to the front of the next higher tread and being fastened to said handrail,

. a second set of angling uprights fastened to and extending from the rear of each tread to a point on said handrail directly over the front of the next lower tread and being attached to the handrail at said point, and

provide end members.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein the uprights are fabricated from mating v-shaped members with a first set of said members having the apex of each attached to the stringer and the ends attached to the handrail and a second set of said members having the apex of each attached to the stringer and the ends attached to the treads. 

1. A truss stairway comprising in combination: a. a pair of horizontally spaced handrails of sufficient strength to support a stairway, b. a plurality of tread holding tension members supported by said handrails, c. a pair of stringer members spaced between said handrails and said treads, d. said tension members comprising a first set of uprights extending vertically on each side of the stairway from the rear of each tread to the front of the next higher tread and being fastened to said handrail, e. a second set of angling uprights fastened to and extending from the rear of each tread to a point on said handrail directly over the front of the next lower tread and being attached to the handrail at said point, and f. said first and second uprights crossing each other at the intersection of said stringer members and being fastened to each other and to said stringer member at said intersection.
 2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the handrails are tubular members.
 3. The structure of claim 1 wherein the members are fastened together by welding.
 4. The structure of claim 1 wherein the handrails are turned down at the top and bottom of the stairway to provide end members.
 5. The structure of claim 1 wherein the uprights are fabricated from mating v-shaped members with a first set of said members having the apex of each attached to the stringer and the ends attached to the handrail and a second set of said members having the apex of each attached to the stringer and the ends attached to the treads. 